State your name: So and so
Where From: Hyderabad
Where to: Kolkata
Vehicle number: MH….
Wait wait wait, MH? Maharashtra? We cannot allow Maharashtra vehicle to enter West Bengal. Orders, you see…No Delhi and Maharashtra vehicles to be allowed into the state. Sorry.
It all started on 19th March, 2020. The Prime Minister was supposed to come on air at 8 PM to address the nation. At that very moment wife and son were undergoing security check at Kolkata airport on the way to catch the red eye flight to Hyderabad. I would pick them up from Hyderabad airport and start for Pune in our car. A weeklong vacation, set with trips to the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. We have done this before, the half flight half car thing, it gives us more flexibility to manage our time, and as always, why miss out on a chance to drive.
At 8 PM, the Janta curfew was announced for Sunday, 20th March. After some deliberation, we called off the “half car” part of the trip. We will plan again tomorrow, we decided. They went ahead and boarded the flight.
Janta curfew comes and goes and I adhered to it by catching up on Season 14 of Grey’s Anatomy while my son gorged on cartoon and my wife enhanced her love relation with the vampires.
I revoked my approved vacation and started working from home on my laptop. Wife decides to stick to her approved vacation plan and take a break. Telangana CM announces night curfew from 6 to 6. It killed our plans to go to Charminar and eat the delicious Boti kebab and Mutton Biryani from Shadab, but that was something we could live with.
Then the Prime Minister announced the completely lockdown of 21 days on 24th March providing a window of 4 hours to make arrangements.
My wife saw red. She had come over for a much needed family vacation. The only connection to her office was her phone, she brought nothing else that might remind her of the office. Hectic calls were made here and there and bare minimum arrangements are made. Telangana was already in the night curfew when the lockdown was announced. The 4 hour window was meaningless for us, not that we could do much in those 4 hours.
We settled down to the lockdown life, dividing the house hold chores, setting up personal spaces for all three of us. My son’s school had started online classes so he too needed a proper workplace to attend his classes. It is just 21 days, everyone assures each other. I rescheduled their return flight tickets to 2 days after the end of the lockdown date.
4th April, my mother, who was at home in Kolkata, is rushed to the emergency with breathing troubles. The doctors suspect Corona and promptly moved her to an isolation ICU.
The next 3 days that they took to report her Covid negative was the most taxing on the family. The results allowed us to breath only half a sigh of relief, the rest half came after 7 days when she was diagnosed to be fit enough to go back home. Not a day passed when we thought of appealing to the local government to allow us to travel to Kolkata but we reasoned ourselves to stay put as that was the right thing to do considering the circumstances.
A lot of water flowed under the bridge between the first announcement, then the extension and then the even further extension. In the 3rd phase Telangana extended the dates till 29th May, 12 days more than the national lockdown. After rescheduling the flights for three times, for each phase, we decided to call it quits. We decide to drive down to Kolkata after the restrictions. That way, 1. Exposure to unknown people would be almost nil compared to taking a fight. 2. We do not have to worry about advance booking. 3. We do not have to wait with bated breath to see if the flight we book would be canceled or not. 4. I could go visit my mother which otherwise I would not if I take a flight.
One fine morning the office VPN decided to revolt against the constant pressure it was being put in to deliver results without any incentives, the only connection to the office for her was gone.
The frustrations’ curve was becoming steeper than the Corona curve. Managing UAT with a team of 150 with only a mobile was nothing compared to the doctors fighting with only a mask. But it was something. Mom was also acting up, not listening to the strict instructions given by the doctors. The lockdown was impacting everyone. 25 more days to go.
On 5th May Telangana relaxed some of the norms, one of them was to provide exit passes to stranded families and for medical emergencies. A sliver of hope in the specter of gloom. But it was not enough. Corona cases were increasing ever more, stories of how ambulances were stuck at the Bengal border was doing the rounds.
Tapped my extremely close friends for suggestions, the response was univocally and clearly NO, not the time to think to travel. So, for us it was still a no travel decision, no point in taking the risk of travelling and getting stuck in the middle of nowhere and the risk of exposure on the way.
On 6th May, West Bengal started issuing online entry passes for people stranded outside the state. We were again back to the discussion table. Should we apply? Should we try? We finally decided to test the waters. Let us apply for Entry pass first. If that comes, then we will apply for the exit pass. By then we had already found out that Hyderabad police was taking about 12 hours to provide the exit pass, so we had their timeframe known. The entry pass process was a complete black hole at that time.
Only people who have own travel arrangements could apply. Vehicle and passenger identifications are required. Reason of travel had to be provided with supporting documents to be shown whenever requested for. We decided to go for the “Stranded families” option. We filled up the whole form diligently and copied all the details in a notepad, just in case everything is lost. Then pressed “Submit”. Nothing.
No response whatsoever. No error, no 404, 505 codes, nothing going round in endless loop. Pressed again. Nope. Tried logging out and retrying. Enter credentials for login. The website gives an out of memory error in bold red and refused to allow us in. So now we are out of the system and have no clue if the request was registered in the previous attempt.
For the next 1 hour we keep on trying and then get through at the umpteenth attempt. Quickly fill in the details again, courtesy the idea of saving all details earlier. We do not follow any God but still looked up and pressed submit. Ahh, something was happening this time. Oxygen was inhaled but carbon dioxide was not exhaled. Then a small green information confirms that our request was registered for approval. SMS would be sent on approval/rejection.
Ting… my wife’s mobile announced an SMS has come. It is from “WBGOVT”. It had hardly been 2 mins. We dread the application must have been rejected. Even our friendly uncle Tom does not give an approval so promptly.
“Your application has been approved.” A link was provided alongside to download the Entry pass. The smile on our faces was bigger than the one my son has whenever someone gives him a full chocolate bar. Download the file before the server decides to hang itself, I urged.
The PDF file downloaded without any drama, we quickly go through it to see if all the details are correctly printed. And then we see it. It says the pass is valid from 8th May 11:30 AM to 10th May 11:30 AM, a window of 48 hours.
In the form they had asked, rather innocently, when we planned to start from the source station and it required to mention the time too. At that time I joked with my wife that they are even asking a time to the last second. Now I realized the joke boomeranged on us quite cruelly.
We, thus had roughly 40 hours to 1. Apply for the exit pass from Hyderabad police and get an approval, 2. Pack our bags, 3. Put the house in the position it could be left un-managed for who knows how long, 4. Reach our home in Kolkata after the 1700 odd KMs of journey within the end time mentioned.
Quickly moved on to the link provided by the Hyderabad police. It was also acting up as thousands of people were applying. It had crashed within a couple of hours on the first day and had not come back online last time I had checked it.
Now it was working, at least the landing page opened. Quickly registered and filled in all the details. Online photo required, no problem. Supporting document to be uploaded for faster approval. Only one document. No problem. Immediately merged all the relevant documents into one PDF: boarding passes of coming to Hyderabad, cancelled ticket mail from the airlines, Address proofs of Kolkata, letter from company mentioning the work place to be in Kolkata.
Upload the documents. Error! File size for supporting document has to be 100 Kb. Mine was over 500 Kb. Compressed and recompressed multiple times, but no way below 250. Decision taken to remove some proofs. A statistical game of permutations and combination pursued along with predictive analytics. It had to be fitted within 100 but enough to convince for approval.
Several attempts later we thought we were good enough to go ahead. Upload, Submit, request accepted. All in one smooth flow. Now the wait for the SMS.
Ting. The beautiful chime, within a couple of minutes, from HYDPOL this time around. People said it takes about 12-24 hours, for us a couple of minutes? “Your application has been rejected”. Reason? Wrong police area. What does that mean? Opened up the website of the nearest police station. Jurisdictions are clearly mentioned and yes, our colony’s name was there.
We reckon we must have filled in something incorrect and the system threw it out. There is no option to check your status online, nor any option to go back and edit. No option to use the same phone number. It has to be fresh application with a different number.
We use another phone number we had, rechecked all data thrice and reapplied. Request submitted. No SMS in the next couple of hours. We are relieved, the application must have been accepted this time. We wait for the decision. It was 7 PM on the 6th.
Next morning in the TOI, it says: Telangana CM orders to cancel all exit and entry from and to Hyderabad and also state borders. At 1 PM we start getting fidgety about the SMS: reject it if not allowing so that people are not keeping any hopes, we plead to each other.
I knew of people who had applied at 10 PM at night and got approval by 10 AM next day. Wife opines to call up the local police station and find out if they have really closed the borders and stopped issuing the exit passes.
Instinctively searched the number in Google and called up. It was answered immediately, only to get very angry person on the other side cursing his unknown enemy who had put up his number in Google as the number of the police station. Poor guy must have been bombarded with calls. One more reason why Google should stop allowing all and sundry to edit such critical data.
The official page gave us the correct number and the first thing the person asked, which lane in our colony we stay. We responded. Is it before or after the community hall of the colony? After. The next information we got was that theirs was not our police station. Jurisdictions are different. Not only that, we are not even in the same district. Apparently, 200 meters from our apartment, the district changes!! We had not only applied to the wrong PS, we had applied to the wrong district. Only the state was correct. It wass 2 PM on the 7th.
We searched for the number of the correct police station and called up and explained our situation. They were really very helpful and asked about our destination telling us not to worry and to visit the DSP office of the district at a place 20 KMs away. Hyderabad lockdown rules during the day mandate us not to venture out of 3KM radius of our homes without a valid pass, which obviously I had no reason to have.
We decide to take the risk to go out of the jurisdiction. Have our lunch very quickly, take the Identity proof we have and rush to the police station. The persons there too were very helpful and gave us the required form which we needed to fill in.
A physical photo of the driver was required. Supporting documents to prove my residence in Hyderabad for jurisdictional validity and destination for travel approval were needed. And everything in hard copies. A photocopy shop is not listed as an essential service.
Rushed back home, picked up my purse and rummaged through my documents to pull out some photos I had left over from my last VISA encounter. On the way back found a photocopy shop open, apparently we were outside Hyderabad district limits and hence out of the red zone into a very green zone! At least some benefit came out of that change of district. The shops there were open till 6 PM.
We were requested to wait for 30 minutes while the police verified and deliberated on our request and finally issued us the permits. There was a couple who wanted to go to Vijaywada on their bike the same day as us, only that they planned to leave early morning and we planned to leave a couple of hours later. We exchanged numbers to keep in touch on the way and get an update from them once they cross over to AP.
Took tens of photocopies of all the documents we had so that we could give one to the check posts at the borders and there would definitely be 6 of them for 4 states we were to deal with. Came back home as soon as possible. A lot of work was at hand.
I have done this route twice earlier. On both times did not require more than 26 hours. The catch was I was alone both the times and I did not stop anywhere except for fuel and bio breaks, which I clubbed together. This was different. An 8 year old child would be with me in this peak summer heat and no one knew how many check posts and how much time it would take at each of them.
I did some rough math quickly and arrived at the worst case scenario of 40 hours, 30 hours for the journey with some bio breaks, 2 hours each at the first 2 borders and 6 hours for the final border to enter Bengal. So the 48 hour window gave me a further breather of 8 hours if I started on time as per the validity of the pass.
Wife quickly started making dry food items for our journey. We had no plans to stop anywhere for food, everything to be carried in the car. She segregated boxes meal by meal to compartmentalize. Hyderabad was clocking 40C+ and we were going to pass through some of the hottest regions India witnesses every summer. Enough dry provisions were packed to last us for 2 days. Water for drinking, washing and then some more for drinking when my friend suggested to augment the stock.
I cleaned the car, topped up every kind of fluid it requires and took some extra. My well-travelled and experienced friend had correctly pointed out that I should expect no support for my car from anywhere during my journey. It was 1 AM on the 8th.
Morning I woke up at 6 to pack the car and keep it ready. It was a cloudy start to the day and I was worried the humidity would push up the discomfort level by several notches. We planned to have a very heavy brunch, take a bath at the very last moment and then start the car to remain fresh as long as possible. Target time to start: 11 AM.
I call up my friend in Bhubaneshwar to inform him about my journey and requesting him to keep an eye out. He informed me that the day before, the Orissa high court had passed an order to not allow anyone in the state without a valid medical certificate. Something that we did not have. It is 1030 AM on the 8th.
1055 AM, we are finally ready to move and I start the car. We hardly move 3 KMs and then think what if Orissa does not allow us to enter without a medical certificate. Google searched nearby hospitals and get outright rejected by 5 before we come to know that in that region only one hospital was authorized to give the certificate.
We rush there. Explain everything. The junior doctors says we need to get a chest X-ray done and if OK we can get the certificate. We agree to it if it can be done immediately. He goes to take approval from his senior, who comes over after some time and informs us they can only provide the certificate for local movement and not inter-state movement. 1130 AM.
We decide to leave immediately without further wasting time. If they do not allow us to enter OD, we will ask them to get us tested. Bought a digital thermometer from a medical shop in case someone asks for our temperature and says they do not have any thermal guns.
Finally we start towards the ORR and exit Hyderabad and reach it in the extreme north of the city from the extreme west of the city where we stay. We were supposed to travel east. The ORR toll gates were all closed and the person informed us that no 4 wheeler was being allowed to use the ORR.
That meant we had to travel back into the city and then turn left to exit from the eastern side. Finally at 2 PM we were on the Vijaywada highway leaving Hyderabad. The police were there checking at most major junctions and let us go once we showed our exit and entry passes.
My target was to reach the state border by 4 PM, keeping 2 hours in hand for checking etc before the curfew started at 6 PM. With around 180 KMs to go to reach the border, Google predicted I would reach there at 5 PM. The roads became empty after the last of the clusters of a trailing city were left behind and we could maintain a very good average. I never drive at triple digits, my sweet spot is always between 80-90 and that’s how I have been driving on the highways.
By 430 PM we reach the border. TS exit was a breeze, just provide the vehicle and person details, start and end places. They duly noted them down and let us go. We filled up in the petrol bunk right before the border, it has been my pump for all the times I have exited on this route.
Elaborate arrangements were made at the other entry point to AP. Tents were pitched and a lot of policemen around a quite a long queue. Huge parking area for cars to be parked. No one was allowed to remain on the tarmac. We found a shade by a tree and park. Wife goes and stands in the queue. We decide to take turns to keep our spot in the queue. After some time the police man announces quite firmly that anyone without the reason of travel being a medical emergency will not be allowed to enter and they need to return back. We had mentioned the reason to be stranded family.
We look at each other and then try again. Someone says Orissa person go somewhere else. Language is a huge barrier as we don’t find if anyone is understanding Hindi and English may project us being over smart. So we start with Hindi saying we intend to reach WB. A police man respond saying you speak Hindi, please wait, we will guide you.
We were shown a separate table and told to go and report there. Empty, no queue at all. They are for transit persons like us. In 5 minutes records were noted down, documents verified and then a tiny piece of paper mentioning the check point name was provided. This was our ticket for passage through AP. It was so small that we thought we would lose it at any point of time.
Meanwhile we saw the couple we had met at the PS the other day. They were dejected, they were returning to Vijaywada to their home and since they did not state any medical reason they were denied entry and told to return back to TS. We wished them luck and decided on move on. There was nothing we could do to help them. And they came all the way in a two-wheeler.
We had crossed the first border in the journey to home, 2 more to go. We relaxed a bit and decided it was time to tame the beast growling inside our tummies. We had fresh grapes and 2 sausages each. Instead of having few heavy meals, which would undoubtedly make me feel drowsy, I prefer to keep on munching on something at frequent intervals. This helps to keep the urge to gorge at bay and sugar levels at check.
We set the next destination in the maps as Brahmapur, we knew the OD border was very near to the town. It gave us a 14.5 hours timeframe, which meant we would reach the OD border around 730 AM the next morning. A good time we reckoned. Not too early that the border check post is still with the minions and not too late that local AP OD traffic starts. The only problem lying ahead was the gas leak in Vizag.
Around 7 PM, the couple that we had met and were not allowed to pass through called up. They had stayed put at the border check post without returning back and were finally allowed to enter AP. They had called to inquire how many more check posts were there before they reached their home in Vijaywada. We passed on the information and told then to ride safe in the dark.
This also made us to start thinking what if WB also says only medical emergency cases would be allowed. I had all the proofs of my mom’s hospitalization in my phone. We decided to apply for another entry pass for WB, this time in my name and with my supporting documents. Since we did not want to waste any time stopping and doing this activity, we asked our friend to do it on our behalf. After several long con-calls he did the registration on my name, only to realize that there was one ‘0’ missing from my DL number which was used as the primary identity.
When we stopped at a large BP fuel pump to tank up, the attended helped out informing that better to go straight through the city than taking the bypass. There was a big check point when we entered the district. All papers, occupants were cross verified and then let us pass. Vizag was a ghost town, the only things moving were either on 4 legs on at least 6 wheels. Barriers set up every 200 mts, it must have been a daunting task during the day when vehicles would be many and police everywhere.
The roads became horrible after Vizag. I knew that construction activities were ongoing till Srikakulam, but this was not what it was in Oct last when I had passed this stretch. I was planning to reach a bit early and take a quick nap at the border, before if they haven’t opened, after if they have. But it seemed that with these road conditions it would be extremely difficult to make good progress.
6 AM, 9th May. We reach the OD border. Arrangements made on the side of the road. Almost permanent structures, queue formation barriers, it shows OD has been ahead in this. Lesson were learnt from last border interactions. We said at the very onset to a police person that we are going to Kolkata. That spared us from the queue that had formed in front of one window, we were directed to another one which was completely empty.
Old habits die hard. The person at the counter told me to go and queue up behind the people in the other counter. Shirking work? When I went back after a moment and informed him that the Sir outside has specifically told me to come to this counter, he relented with a grunt. Started asking me details over a boom mike even though I was just behind the glass window.
I saw half of it was being misspelt and when pointed out he shrugged me off. Finally he wrote the vehicle details, no of passengers and the date in a slip that would be our pass through the state. And then he threw it at me. Any other time, I would have given him a lecture on his rude behavior, but this is no day to even make a comment, so I let it pass. Probably he was mad at being called to duty so early in the morning.
With the pass secured, we went into the Reliance pump just before Brahmapur. I remembered it from my last trip to Gopalpur at sea, they had clean well maintained bathrooms and filtered cold drinking water. But it was not our day, their bathroom was not working. So we crossed Brahmapur and then into the next reliance pump which was just outside the town limits. Here we find a man in his gamchha taking a bath in the washroom.
The supervisor or manager of the pump assures us that he would disinfect the entire bathroom after the man leaves and asked us to wait for some time. And it was done, quite thoroughly. So wife has a sparkling clean bathroom to use for herself and made good use of it – who knows how the next one we use would be.
By 9 AM the sun felt like 1 PM, beating down the huge windshield in the front – perils of travelling east in the morning. The AC was blasting out cold air which was becoming normal by the time it reached us and hot by the time it was reaching my son in the back seat. And every time I had to stop or slow down, it worsened.
We zipped past Bhubaneswar around 830 AM and though initially I had requested a friend to get a print out of my mother’s hospital papers which we would pick up on the way, we ditched the idea as the shops would not open in another hour or so. We drove past Bhadrak before even thinking of a loo break for myself and my son, there was not a tree at sight that provided some shade by the road where the car could be parked for a couple of minutes.
It was strange that relieving yourself in the nature is now more hygienic than using a public washroom. My son had to be explained why we are doing it, earlier it was the same me who would explain why we should not be doing it. A complete U-turn was not something that my son took lying down.
We finished off the sausages before they start to get bad in the heat. In total 1 Kg of sausages were devoured between the three of us. We had enough water with us, but half of it had turned lukewarm, something I would have thoroughly enjoyed on a cold morning. But the dread of stopping in the heat to relieve ourselves and turning the car into an even more hot baking oven, we instinctively were not gulping down our throats, they were more like gentle sips that premium scotches command.
Finally we reach the OD border. We are told to disembark and register ourselves, which is done in a jiffy. Ahead we have the toll booth and expect the WB check post on the other side. Toll paid we move gingerly ahead, arranging all the documents, ready to get to the queue. But there’s nothing other than the empty roads ahead. Perplexed, we push on, it has to be there somewhere ahead. We see a long line of cars on the other side that was leaving Bengal.
Two buses, a tempo, couple of trax, couple of wingers, 10-12 cars greet us on the left side of the road. Another trick learnt in the previous 2 borders, I do not queue up in the end, rather move ahead slowly as near to the barrier as possible and slide into an open space left by some vehicle earlier. Wife runs down the rest of the part to stand in the queue, I follow with an umbrella and the vehicle documents.
As we try to comprehend which queue to stand in or if there was any queue at all, person comes and asks in Hindi, MH vehicle your vehicle? I respond in the affirmative. He directs me to a police vehicle waiting just after my parked car. I walk up to it and the person outside commands – please stand three feet away.
I obey, politely confirming again that the car is indeed mine. He asks me to talk to the bada sahib, who was sitting in the car.
MH car is yours? Yes sir
Where are you coming from? Hyderabad sir
MH car, coming from Hyderabad.. how? Sir I presently work in Hyderabad. This car is 11 years old. I bought it in Pune when I stayed there.
OK, bring me all your papers.
He zooms off down the road. I rush back to my wife to get the papers. She was already providing details to the person who is taking down the details. I stand beside her quietly, seeing if they do not say anything and allow us ahead.
State your name: So and so
Where From: Hyderabad
Where to: Kolkata
Vehicle number: MH….
Wait wait wait, MH? Maharashtra? We cannot allow Maharashtra vehicle to enter West Bengal. Orders, you see…No Delhi and Maharashtra vehicles to be allowed into the state. Sorry.
My wife tried to explain him thrice that the car is MH, but we are coming from Hyderabad. It did not help.
The system cannot accept a vehicle with MH number, we are told. Nothing can be done. You will be quarantined and tested. I gently nudge her and ask her not to pursue and tell her about my encounter.
The police officer was back with his vehicle by that time. We walk to him and show him the details, car was bought in 2009, I am working in Hyderabad from 2018 (Thankfully I was carrying a HR letter, which was issued in Sept 2018, confirming my local address in Hyderabad), the PUC which was issued in Hyderabad about two months ago, before the lockdown started.
We are not coming from Maharashtra, we say again.
The officer thought for a moment and then ordered his subordinates to allow us to pass. We were elated. We go back to the counter and inform. The same person who 10 minutes ago had said the system was not accepting any MH numbers promptly took down all the details and asked us to get our temperatures checked.
I quickly get my son from the car which I left with the engine running trying in vain to keep the insides cool. Thermal tests take a second and the doctor says we are cleared. Wife goes ahead to get the certificate while I take my son back to the car and we stand outside and he munches on some snacks. The “hot” air outside was more comforting than the “cold” air inside the car.
20 minutes later, wife signaled she has the papers and we quickly fallout of line and move ahead. The barrier is removed for us to pass through. As we start to exhale, another barrier a 100 mts ahead. Another police officer. MH car? Not allowed, absolutely not allowed, you cannot go further. Please park in the side.
We explained that we have gone through this exercise and after all deliberations have been cleared by the officer a 100 mts behind us. He makes a few calls to some people, which roughly translated into that he had caught a red Indica red handed trying to come from a red zone. A lot of red flags in the sentence. We offered to go back to the police officer to explain, he dismisses us like a fly. Few more calls and then suddenly he said – OK, you are free to go.
We thank him profusely and then without any more time wasted move ahead, move into WB. We have done it. I called up my couple of friends who had been tracking us and with us on the call on every step of the way to inform the good news and even dared to think of taking a few hours break in Kharagpur. I asked my wife to read out the certificate they gave us. This is to certify that vehicle number….What?? Where is the vehicle number? They had written her name instead. We were already 25 KMs inside.
My friends had informed of two more confirmed check posts before we enter city limits and the same logic of not passing them after sun down was the intention. We deliberated on whether we move ahead or we go back and get the corrections done. What if the officer who allowed us is not there and the others refuse to let us get the pass. We decide it is a risk but without the vehicle number in the pass, it is a bigger risk to go ahead. Hence, a u-turn. Half way back, we see the police officer’s car go past us towards Kolkata.
We drive the last couple of kilometers down the wrong side of the road lest we get in to the mess of the cars trying to leave Bengal. We explain to the police officer who had made those calls and had finally let us go. He allows my wife to go back and talk at the counter.
In between I started discussing about alternative arrangements in case they refuse to correct the mistake. May be we go to Kharagpur and leave this car there and request one of the cars of our friend there. May be we take the risk and go ahead. She’s back after another 20 minutes, a fresh certificate in hand! We read it loudly 3 times to ensure the information is correctly written this time around.
After a tank full in the immediate next pump, we race towards Kolkata. The first check post asked for the online pass we had. They did not care about the pass that we obtained after 2 hours at the border as if it did not exist. The second check post just checked the date of the pass. And we were free, free to be home. We had targeted to reach the city by 6 PM. I had never seen an emptier NH6 in the afternoon. In no time we were entering the gates of our society. Exactly at 6 PM, 9th May.
We had reached. 31 hours from the time I first turned the key in the parking at Hyderabad.
On the way we saw scores of people, trudging along with their meagre belongings, some with cements sacks, some with back packs that would put a mountaineer to shame and some fortunate ones with a trolley bag. A towel wrapped around the head and face in desperate attempts to guard from the sun. Men, women, children. In the scorching sun, in the dark of the nights. Some fortunate ones had bought brand new cycles that glistened against the headlights. An unwavering resolution and determination. It humbled us. We thought we had it in us, the determination to reach, but it was so puny in comparison. We were privileged, how someone could complain of the heat after seeing them.
We always complain about police high handedness. But they were the most helpful. And it was they who were standing in the sun ensuring that everything was in order. The police in Vijaywada were arranging pickup trucks to take the people to shelters. We were moved by the thumb for a lift by a son whose father was sitting on the road, bathed in exhaustion. But we could not pick them up, we are not supposed to. We saw the difference between India and Bharat, and the gap is widening, unfortunately.
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